Consulting Services for Parents of 2e Children
Parenting gifted and distractible children is challenging on many levels. Through the lenses of giftedness and learning differences, I will help you understand your child’s perplexing behaviors, complex feelings and intensity. We will discuss how to deepen your connection, how to respond rather than react and how to go from frustrated to fulfilled.
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Consulting services with Julie Skolnick, M.A., J.D.
Empower Your 2e Parenting Journey:
Wondering if working with me is the right fit for you?
Are you ready to embark on a transformative journey tailored to your unique 2e needs? Hello, I’m Julie F. Rosenbaum Skolnick, M.A., J.D., Founder of With Understanding Comes Calm, LLC. If you’re navigating the unique challenges of parenting gifted and distractible children, you’re in the right place. Let’s embark on a journey to not just understand your child but to empower both you and them.
🌟 Unveiling the Path to Understanding
Parenting a twice-exceptional child is a complex adventure. Giftedness and learning differences cast a unique lens on your child’s perplexing behaviors, intense feelings, and incredible abilities. Together, we’ll delve into this world, exploring strategies to deepen your connection, shift from reaction to response, and transform frustration into fulfillment.
🗣️ Opening Conversations: Giftedness and Self-Awareness
Have you ever wondered if or how you should talk to your child or student about what it means to be gifted or twice exceptional?
Sometimes it’s hard to find the right words, but we know that self-awareness helps the 2e child understand how and why the world affects him in the way that it does.
In this video, I share a script for you to follow or watch with your gifted/2e kiddos.
🌈 Is Your Child Exhibiting These Traits?
Are you parenting a child who...
● Engages in power struggles with you, even over simple requests?
● Melts down frequently?
● Has an enormous vocabulary?
● Bombards you with questions?
● Is self critical?
● Has trouble relating to peers?
Are you parenting a child who...
● Challenge rules because he has “a better way?”
● Seem overly sensitive to criticism?
● Worry about trying new things?
● Resist completing or turning in work unless it is “perfect?”
● Complain that he is bored in school?
● Struggle to complete tasks like homework and chores?
Do teachers and other adults...
● Pay more attention to your child’s behavior than intellect?
● React to your child in a negative way?
● Describe your child as hyper?
Tailored Solutions: Consulting Options for You
Pick a solution that is ideal for you:
Understanding why your child reacts, behaves and feels the way he Your first session is a two hour needs assessment which may or may not include a Live Educational Webinar. Thereafter, schedule 60 minute, 90 minute, or 2 hour sessions – your choice. Parents gain clarity on why their 2e children do or do not behave in certain ways. Julie provides strategies to implement now and may identify patterns that have become ingrained in your family system. You will learn a collaborative advocacy approach and how to “craft your child’s story.”, allows us to calmly create strategies to redirect or diffuse behavior. New tools in your toolbox allow you to respond rather than react to your child and help him individuate and become independent.
How will these strategies actually happen at home, in the classroom and out in the world? In order to implement the strategies, we need a comprehensive plan that takes into account the factors where these strategies are utilized. Who is in charge? What contributes to the ease or challenge with which these strategies are used? How do we engage your child so he willingly participates in these strategies?
Meeting One: Intake and Understanding: We discuss particular challenges or behaviors you and your child experience at home, at school, in extra-curricular activities or elsewhere. Julie will teach about the inner experience of being gifted and twice exceptional, which will help you understand WHY challenges occur. (2 hours).
Meeting Two: Strategies based on the P-R-A-I-S-E paradigm: You will learn HOW you can address challenges and encourage successes through strategies that help bring out the best in your child. The goal of these strategies is to allow your child to “switch gears” when they are entering the “danger zone” of challenging behavior and to allow YOU to “switch gears” when you enter the realm of frustration and exhaustion. (2 hours).
Meeting Three: Advocacy: We’ll Craft Your Child’s Story using strengths and struggle to inform his particular needs. You’ll learn best practices to build a collaborative team for your child. (2 hours).
Julie sits down virtually with you and your extended family to explain what it means to be gifted and twice exceptional. Having grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other family members in the room to experience Julie’s “live webinar” about what it means to be gifted and 2e allows the family system to share language and understanding on how best to approach and respond to a 2e child’s needs. This multigenerational session allows your loved ones to gain a deeper understanding of your child and to get answers to their questions.
Our Three-Step Process
In order to achieve our goals of empowered parents and successful children, we implement a three meeting process:
With understanding comes calm. Through a lens of giftedness and learning differences, I will help you understand your child’s perplexing behaviors, complicated feelings and challenging attitudes, as well as negative responses from others toward your child.
Giftedness and distractibility are often accompanied by intensities; sensitivity, anxiety, anger, boredom, frustration and immense energy. These BIG feelings in turn can cause outlier behaviors that prohibit our children from succeeding in mainstream settings. Unless and until the adults in charge understand why our children behave the way they do, our children are often alienated, punished, disciplined or shunned.
Understanding why your child reacts, behaves and feels the way he does, allows us to calmly create strategies to redirect or diffuse behavior. New tools in your toolbox allow you to respond rather than react to your child and help him individuate and become independent.
How will these strategies actually happen at home, in the classroom and out in the world? In order to implement the strategies, we need a comprehensive plan that takes into account the factors where these strategies are utilized. Who is in charge? What contributes to the ease or challenge with which these strategies are used? How do we engage your child so he willingly participates in these strategies?
The success of implementation is planning ahead. Get buy-in from your child and her teacher. Decide what needs to be in place to redirect behavior or fulfill your child’s needs.
Along with an implementation plan, we advise parents on how to advocate with necessary professionals: teachers, administrators, coaches and others so parents create a mutually supportive team without creating a defensive atmosphere. The goal is to form a partnership where parents and professionals gain mutual benefits from sharing information, techniques, and have a respectful back and forth about the best way to help your child thrive.
🤝 Let's Form a Partnership
Ready to Take the Leap? Schedule Your Consult!
Our goal is empowered parents and successful children. By sharing information, techniques, and fostering respectful communication, we build a partnership for the best way to help your child thrive.
If you’ve gone through everything and feel a strong resonance, why not skip the line? Book a paid consultation now, and let’s embark on your transformative journey right away.
🧠 Understand WHAT I DO & DON'T OFFER
What I Do Offer For Parents
One-to-One Service – Three to Four Distinct Two-Hour Meetings:
Meeting One: A deep dive into you or your child’s profile – strengths and struggles. Includes a 35-minute live “webinar” exploring what it means to be gifted and 2e.
Meeting Two: Strategies based on the P-R-A-I-S-E paradigm:
- Personal Connection
- Reframe
- Anticipate
- Incentives and Choices
- Sense of Humor
- Exercise
Meeting Three: Advocacy – crafting you or your child’s story and advocating to various educators and providers.
Hourly Services – Schedule Meetings As Needed:
Meeting One: A deep dive into your profile – strengths and struggles. Includes a 35-minute live “webinar” exploring what it means to be gifted and 2e.
All other meetings: Meetings can be sixty minutes, ninety minutes, or two hours. You bring what you want to discuss, and we tailor support and guidance accordingly.
PMNs (Post Meeting Notes): In between meetings, every client receives Post Meeting Notes (PMNs), Julie’s informal notes summarizing your discussions.
Homework: In between meetings, optional homework is assigned to practice strategies and skills.
🧠 Understand WHAT I DO & DON'T OFFER
What I Don't Offer For Parents
While I rarely say “no” to a client, there are a few areas that my services do not address:
I am not a Mental Health Practitioner: My services do not include mental health or therapy services.
I am not an IEP or 504 Plan Advocate: I am not an IEP or 504 Plan Advocate: While I support clients in their child’s IEP and 504 processes, I refer clients to a specialized advocate to address IEP and 504 issues. See below to learn how I help parents advocate for their 2e child, and teach their 2e child to advocate on his/her/their behalf.
I am not an Educational Consultant: I advise parents on what to look for in a school, what questions to ask, and help them assess the appropriateness of school programs for their specific 2e child. However, I do not walk through the application process with my parent clients.
My mission is simple yet profound: to empower you, your child, or yourself as an adult with the tools to navigate the 2e experience successfully. It's about understanding, celebrating strengths, and crafting YOUR unique path forward.
❤️ Need More Help?
📆 Schedule a FREE 20-minute conversation with me.
These calls are for you to tell me exactly what you are looking and hoping for when working together. If what you want is within my wheelhouse of support, then I’ll describe next steps and lead you to the onboarding process. If not, I’ll try to refer you to someone awesome within my network. The downside to a 20 minute call is that it delays getting onto my busy schedule. If you’d like to learn more about my services you can keep reading/watching the videos below and gain access to onboarding documents right away.
🎥 Before you schedule your FREE 20-minute consultation, I invite you to watch this video. It’s your personal guide to understanding how our service works, what to expect, and how we can specifically tailor our expertise to meet your distinct 2e needs.
If you’ve watched the video above, read what I do and don’t offer, and still have questions or uncertainties, I invite you to book your free 20-minute consultation. It’s your chance to have a direct conversation with me, where we can dive deeper into your unique situation, but please be aware that this might significantly delay getting onto my calendar for your consultations.
Here’s a little secret. While the free consultation is fantastic, it may delay your first session, since my calendar is so full. If you’ve gone through everything and feel a strong resonance, why not skip the line? Book a paid consultation now, and let’s embark on your transformative journey right away.
I can’t wait to connect with you, whether it’s through our free twenty-minute consultation or a deeper dive with a paid sessions.
Our journey together begins with understanding.
I can't wait to connect with you, whether it's through our free consult or a deeper dive with a paid session.
Julie Skolnick, M.A., J.D.
Julie F. Rosenbaum Skolnick, M.A., J.D., Founder of With Understanding Comes Calm, LLC, passionately guides parents of gifted and distractible children, mentors 2e adults, trains educators and advises professionals on how to bring out the best and raise self-confidence in their 2e students and clients. The author of Gifted and Distractible, Julie’s writing enjoys acclaim from parents, 2e adults, educators, and 2e service providers.